Vocabulary from Economic Times: 17 July 2017

Published on Monday, July 17, 2017

By insiya yadav

1. Spoilsport: कबाब में हड्डी

A person who behaves in a way that spoils others' pleasure, especially by not joining in an activity; killjoy, dog in the manger, misery, damperExample: Some ‘alt-news’- slaying website decided to play the spoilsport.

2. Menace: खतरा

Be a threat or possible danger to; hazard, danger, peril, to put at risk, jeopardise, imperilExample: Now, rumours have become a menace.

3. Contagion: रोग-संचार

The communication of disease from one person or organism to another by close contact; infection, taint, contamination, disease, illnessExample: It is almost like an information contagion infecting unsuspecting minds at the speed of light.

4. Sinister: भयावह

Giving the impression that something harmful or evil is happening or will happen; terrible, fearful, ghastly, menacing, threatening, ominousExample: Many of these are really sinister.

5. Nebulous: अस्पष्ट

Vague, obscure, ambiguous, unclear, unreadableExample: Rumours are way of making sense of a stressful and nebulous situation by theorising on one’s own and through others when no acceptable information is available.

6. Outlandish: विचित्र

Looking or sounding bizarre or unfamiliar; weird, queer, offbeat, far out, freakishExample: With Photoshop, a person can make the most outlandish claims believable.

7. Preposterous: निरर्थक

Fruitless, futile, fiddling, insignificant, voidExample: A transformed or ‘photo-shopped’ image can help even a preposterous claim survive for a long time.

8. Uneasiness: बेचैनी

Discomfort, restlessness, malaise, dither, disquietExample: One hypothesis is that they believe that sharing their own anxieties with others lessens the uneasiness.

9. Cue: संकेत

Signal, sign, indication, hint, clueExample: There appears to be an ‘I-believe in- it-so-I’ll-pass-it-on’ kind of vested interest working as a transmission cue.

10. Raven: काला कौआ

A large heavily built crow with mainly black plumage, feeding chiefly on carrionExample: Even in cases where a preposterous claim, such as where someone saw a green sun last Sunday, or the ‘fact’ that all ravens are white in New Zealand, is allowed to pass, a choice is made based on our own experiences and sensibilities.

11. Mutate: रूप बदलना

Transfigure, convert, modify, metamorphoseExample: Often the original rumour gets mutated in the process.

12. Refute: झूठा ठहराना

Disprove, confute, rebut, tear downExample: Refute the rumour and all its mutated forms by ‘attacking’ it from every possible angle.

13. Gospel: सुसमाचार

A thing that is absolutely true; the naked truth, God’s truth, honest truthExample: Given that many of us believe tweets to be gospel truth, a lightning counteroffensive alone can contain damage.

14. Frenetic: उन्मत्त

Fast and energetic in a rather wild and uncontrolled way; frantic, mad, maniac, ecstaticExample: During the main event [announcement by the research group at CERN] the activity became frenetic and its time scale reduced to 2 seconds without a specific spatial pattern.

15. Genie: जिन्न

A spirit of Arabian folklore, as depicted traditionally imprisoned within a bottle or oil lamp, and capable of granting wishes when summonedExample: The only way to contain the damage caused by the rumour genie is to educate the masses.

16. Despicable: घिनौना

Slimy, odious, sordid, disgusting, abominableExample: China may have been a rising economic giant rivalling the US, but its track record on the human rights front is despicable.

17. Credo: पंथ

A statement of the beliefs or aims which guide someone's actionsExample: Glad-handing has been always been a crucial part of a politician’s credo.

18. Trenchant: तीव्र/प्रखर

Intense, strong, severe, crispy, direExample: Even the most trenchant critics would have to concede that Prime Minister Narendra Modi trumped the US president’s signature shake-and-yank manoeuvre.

19. Concede: स्वीकार करना

Accept, admit, confess, recognise, avowExample: Even the most trenchant critics would have to concede that Prime Minister Narendra Modi trumped the US president’s signature shake-and-yank manoeuvre.

20. Tautology: पुनरुक्ति

A tautology is a logical sentence that is true under all possible circumstances, or true by virtue of its form.

Example: When the lawyer spoke to the jury, he used tautology to make the jurors aware of his point without being repetitive.